New time capsule set to go

Brandt Construction's Joel Ramirez, left, and Jon Brandt, right, install the City of Burbank 100th Anniversary bronze plaque next to the city hall steps on Thursday, December 8, 2011. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Brandt Construction's Joel Ramirez, left, and Jon Brandt, right, install the City of Burbank 100th Anniversary bronze plaque next to the city hall steps on Thursday, December 8, 2011. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Maria Hsin, maria.hsin@latimes.com

A specially made centennial time capsule — including history books signed by Ron Howard and Debbie Reynolds and a portable DVD player — is scheduled to be sealed underground during a ceremony on Monday, capping four months of preparation and a whole lot of detail work.

The capsule containing centennial memorabilia won’t be opened for another 100 years, officials said.

Parks and recreation staff began preparing the space about three weeks ago. The process of collecting the items took about four months.

Gaby Flores, the city’s Centennial Celebration Coordinator and deputy director of community services, said the process was more than she bargained for.

“I didn’t think you had to do more than just bury it in a hole in the ground,” Flores said.

This year’s capsule — basically a watertight metal box — will be buried in the same place a diamond jubilee capsule was unearthed during the centennial celebrations, in a small area to the right of the steps at City Hall.

The new centennial capsule is a different size, so parks officials had to make accommodations, Flores said, including a concrete casing.

“The concrete vault was custom-poured to meet the dimensions of the time capsule with approximately two inches of space on the sides and height,” Landscape Services Manager Jeff Zambouris said in an email.

The bronze plaque was put in place Thursday.

Following conversations with centennial committees, the Burbank Historical Society and the city’s Heritage Commission, a list of the items was compiled and Flores began the collection process.

“It took about a month to get everyone’s items together in my office — my office was the time capsule,” Flores joked.

Once collected, the items — which also include a centennial patch, pin, mug, city and local publications, photos and state-of-the-city DVDs — were placed in a box to determine the size of the capsule, which came in at 16-by-18 inches.

The time capsule dedication is 4 p.m. Monday near the steps of City Hall.

“The event is encapsulating an entire year’s worth of events and activities,” Flores said. “Now it’s about the next 100 years and how we move forward from today.”